9 QT Cast Iron Pot - Gumbo portions

Flour to stock ratios vary from 7-to-1 to 20-to-1, depending on how thick you want it.

How much oil you use with the flour to make the roux is your preference. If you're a noob, you can start with more oil than flour, maybe 1 1/2 to 1 1/4 parts oil-to-flour, but if not, go with 1-to-1 and you won't have to skim as much oil off later.

The darker you make the roux, the less thickening power it will have.

9 quarts is 36 cups. Decide how big your serving is going to be based on that.

I'd use about 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and about 1 1/2 pounds Andouille.

Not sure how much rice you need, maybe 1 cup rice for 2 cups gumbo?

Gris Gris will come in in a while and give more refinement.

Hi Slack. I'm not the best on measurements because I don't measure. I do it by feel. I use the same cast iron skillets and pots and I just sort of know. I've got a big roux in the oven right now and I'd have to guess at how much flour and oil I put in it.

BUT, the best guide I know of is to use Paul Prudhomme's recipe as a guide for measurements.

Here's the site for it.

LINK

This is where I started and I probably come out somewhere about this give or take though I usually make about 5 gallons at a time.

He goes 7-10 quarts liquid to 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup flour. I probably use a little more flour than oil and I'm probably about a 9 cup liquid to that amount person. I don't like it too thick and that's where personal taste comes in. If you like it thick, go 7-8 cups liquid. If you like it to have body but not to be stew like, go 9-10 cups liquid.

If you look at the bottom of his recipe, he allows for 1 and 1/4 cup of gumbo per entree serving. I allow for 12 oz per person if I'm counting to determine how much I need for a certain amount of folks. That also varies. Some folks like a ton of rice and some don't like much.

In a 9 quart pot, you're not going to be able to make 9 quarts, but you can do about 8. So, do the math and determine how many ounces of gumbo you'd serve per person and you'll know about how many servings of an entree you'll get out of that pot.

You don't have to fry the chicken as he does, but you can use the pounds of meat as a guide as well. I use a pound of sausage per his recipe because I love sausage and the flavor it imparts. That's another personal preference.

I think you could at least make 1 1/2 times his recipe in your pot and possible double his recipe. He recommends a 5 1/2 quart pot for his single recipe for 6 servings, but he's not filling it to the top.

His measurements on seasoning and veggies are pretty spot on. I don't measure those either. My caution is to watch salt. I add that last if it's needed. If I fry the chicken, I do salt it a bit, but not much. You have to watch the sausage/andouille. Some of it can be pretty salty. That's why I wait until the end to do that.

I hope this is somewhat helpful to you. It's hard to be exact with gumbo with so many personal variables. Not the same as jamba or even crawfish when calculating.

If you have some other questions, I'll be glad to try and answer them or at least give you a guide.

Also, remember that making the roux is really the only exact thing you need to know as far as how much to make it a texture that you prefer. You can always add liquid but you can't take it out if it's too thin. I make extra roux quite often just in case. I stop adding it when I get the texture I want. Oh, and keep in mind that PP fries the chicken in this recipe and it has flour on it that cooks into the gumbo, giving it more body. That's why I add more flour when I make it without frying the poultry. I need a bit more since I won't have floured chicken. I probably should have said that above, but it's late and I've had my Friday night gin, so bear with me!

For your first time in that pot, give a double PP recipe a try. If you can't get it all in one part, just take a little out and put it in another pot and mix it up later when you've had a bowl or two from the big pot. No big deal.

Good luck!

I always make my roux in a deep cast iron skillet and add it by ladles to a pot of simmering stock as soon as I'm done simmering the veggies in the roux. I make large amounts at one time, though, so there's no way for me to add all the stick to the roux pot. I think most folks add the stick to the roux in the cast iron pot. I've never added cold stock to hot roux. I think you can add cold stock to hot roux SLOWLY and incorporating with each addition keeping the roux hot as you go.

I don't think adding hot roux to a pot of cold stock works however. I think that's when it could break.